


The Pits of Fashion

by AdotHann



Series: The Action in the Street [5]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: (Theo and Herc's cute friendship rivals even Maria and John's omg), Alexander Hamilton: Broke but broke in the name of justice, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Angelica Schuyler: Litterally the most sensible person here and she still fights crime in spandex, Gen, Hercules 'Super Tailor' Mulligan, John Laurens: a fucking nerd, Maria Reynolds: Done with this shit, Oh wait, Starring: - Freeform, Theodosia: Better than you, Thomas Jefferson: as himself, and peggy, and wonder woman, and your freinds, copious use of twitter interludes, here we go again, it was me, never mind, okay back to actual tagging, the superhero AU, who the hell thought it would be a good idea to give the founding fathers superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2017-03-18
Packaged: 2018-10-07 03:55:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10351746
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AdotHann/pseuds/AdotHann
Summary: Superheroes may save our city, but who will save them from dressing like the pits of fashion?Enter Hercules Mulligan! Tailor by day and.... super tailor by night.-(feat. the fact that everyone loves Theodosia.)





	

John Laurens @SuperWatch  
Do you ever wonder where superheroes get their costumes?

|

Maria @MarieLew  
@SuperWatch You think about this way too much

 

* * *

 

 

Hercules had been running Mulligan’s Tailors for almost four years now and honestly, despite how terrifying his land lord could be, renting Von Steuben’s building was one of the best decisions he’d ever made (right up there with buying a sewing machine and going to fashion college.) The shop was Georgian style shop with high arching windows and a sprawling shop floor (and better still; an equally sprawling apartment upstairs.) His job mostly consisted of making high-end handmade suits and party dresses - which was fine, if a little boring after a couple of years. It just seemed like everyone wanted the same stuff, the same dress shapes in 3 different colours and the same suit cuts, day in and day out. Herc had fallen in love with tailoring clothes because he could make them suit people, and personalities, but as hard as he tried he never seemed to find the opportunity to do that.

Then somebody introduced him to Theodosia Prevost; New York's most well renowned criminal lawyer. She was one of those women who simply seems to radiate confidence and power, and she probably fought crocodiles and wrangled powerful men on a daily basis, without breaking a sweat.  
(And that was Herc's impression of her _before_ he found out she was NYC's most famous superhero.)

Theo quickly became a regular customer, needing suits and gowns for court, as well as party dresses, sun dresses and just once, an ugly Christmas sweater. They became friends almost as fast; Theo had a rare talent for designing dresses that were both beautiful and make-able, and Herc kept her amused with bizarre suggestions for how to sway a jury her way (most memorably, holding a candle under the defendant's chin and yelling "Behold! The murderer!")

More often than not, Theo would bring her case files to the shop after hours and they'd work in companionable silence. Friday night movie nights were a much newer tradition, but a tradition they were proud of nonetheless.

 

* * *

 

 

The first time Theo asked Herc to fix her Ms Miracle outfit, she tried to pass it of as a Halloween Costume. Herc had tried to give her the benefit of the doubt, but it really didn't take a professional tailor to tell when an outfit has been... well loved. He counted no less than 14 places where the fabric had been torn and crudely sewn back together, as well as no small number of mystery stains.

He tossed the costume back into its carrier bag with jus a little bit of disgust, and began closing up shop. Something told him he was going to need to stock up on spandex.

Nine hours and seven cups of tea later, the new costume was finished. Theo was ecstatic, though her expression fell a little when he refused to accept her money.

"You save the city on a regular basis," Herc insisted, "This is the least I can do."

The fact that she didn't deny it was payment enough.

 

* * *

 

 

It didn't change much. Theo still brought her case files after hours, they still did movie nights.

Herc started taking first aid classes (though he didn't have to use his new-found skills often; Ms Miracle wasn't the best hero in the city for nothing.)

The biggest change (and honestly it wasn't all that big a change,) was to his customer base. During the day he still got the average mundane customers, but closer to clothing time things got a little stranger.

It started on a rainy Thursday evening, about a month after he made Theo's new suit. He was only five minutes from shutting up shop when the bell rang. Herc did his best not to sigh, but really, who the hell comes in five minutes before closing time? He looked up to see a short, unassuming guy with a messy bun and a charming smile. With one arm, he clutched a battered Tesco bag to his chest as if it was the most important thing in the world.

"Alexander Hamilton," the man said, offering his free hand.

"Hercules Mulligan. What can I do for you, Mr Hamilton?" Herc asked easily, a little bemused by the formality of the situation .

"A friend of mine said you were good at fixing clothes." Alex said with a sly grin, like he was sharing a private joke. Herc raised an eyebrow.

"I do what I can, let's see it."

"Okay, but I'm gonna warn you - it's pretty torn up."

Hercules mentally prepared himself for some dog-chewed favorite shirt, or the last bobbly jumper grandma knitted before she died. He was met with something completely different.

Hamilton emptied the carrier bag onto the counter, revealing a rather charred combination of green and black, leather and spandex that was just about recognizable as The Illusionist's super-suit.

He rubbed the back of his neck uncomfortably as Herc inspected the garment. Hamilton hadn't been kidding when he said it was pretty destroyed; it looked like someone had tried to burn it and, failing that, had tried to feed it to a pack of wolves.  
Hamilton laughed when Hercules vocalised this. "I think you just summed up my weekend perfectly."

Herc sighed, looking back at the traumatized garment. "Well, I could fix it but it'd be easier for me to make you a new one."

Hamilton looked warily at the extravagant ball gowns and glamorous suits Herc had on display in the shop. "I'm not sure I have that kind of money-"

Herc shook his head and quickly uttered the words that would seal his fate for the foreseeable future; "It’s cool bro. Superheroes get a discount."

Hamilton beamed at him.

Later that night, while watching The Incredibles with Theo, he asked her if she thought Alex would let him totally re-design his outfit (because honestly it's just kind of embarrassing to look at and, if he can help it, Herc won't let one of his customers walk around looking like that.)

Theo cackled. "Sure, as long as there are no capes."

Herc groaned.

 

* * *

 

 

John Laurens @SuperWatch  
#Illusionist spotted wearing a rad new outfit!  
[picture attached]

|

Maria @MarieLew  
@SuperWatch “Rad”

|

John Laurens @SuperWatch  
@MarieLew Shhhhhh leave me and my rad vocabulary alone

 

* * *

 

 

A few weeks later he was asked to start drawing up new designs for a new costume in a combination of coral pink and baby blue that only Athena could pull off.b(He never meet the customer; the order was placed in the form of a detailed essay shoved under his door late at night and was all paid for in cash, but by the end of that week every local paper is sporting pictures of Athena wearing his work .)

Just as he was getting over how incredibly cool that was, the Duchess, in all her acid-yellow glory, came in for tips about getting blood stains out of fabric. Herc was more than happy to oblige. (They end up watching RuPaul's Drag Race together while her suit soaked in a bucket of the best bio detergent Herc owned.)

The most surreal moment is when The Manipulator himself strolled in, decked in full (hideous) costume, and asked him to make him some spare copies of his hideous purple outfit, "just in case the illusionist wrecks _another_ one."

There and then, Herc vowed not to take sides. It didn't do to turn away paying customers, especially the kind who would blow up your building for offending them. He still catered to normal people during daylight hours, he still made superhero (and now villain) costumes when they needed them. Superheroes still got a discount that villains don't, "Because it's a tradition, Thomas. Besides, you're fucking loaded."

Herc still hung out with Theo and her rag-tag hero gang whenever they had time, because that's what friends do, but work wise he didn't discuss anything further than bitching about the ridiculous outfits all of his friends and customers wear. His friends knew better than to pry. It works.

He supposed that Theo had found her own bizarre way to repay him after all.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry if these are getting less funny but I was listening to the Dear Evan Hansen soundtrack and sobbing while I wrote this so I mean at least I have an explanation?  
> *clears throat* creative criticism always appreciated, also please boost my confidence with kudos  
> edit: so I read this back, found all the typos but I'm too exhausted to fix them rn. ill get around to it


End file.
